Proud Welshman Richie Williams likened Cambridge RUGFC's comeback in their 27-22 victory over Blackheath on Saturday to that of Wales’ turnaround in the Six Nations the day before.

The Blood & Sand found themselves 22-3 down at half-time away to the third-placed side in National One, but rallied with three second-half tries to emerge as 27-22 winners.

The Welsh head coach’s nation fought back in their Six Nations opener against France on Friday, having trailed 16-0 at the break to win 24-19 in the Stade de France.

Williams saw the similarities between the two games, and praised his players for gaining a creditable result.

“We followed in the footsteps of Wales from Friday night I think,” Williams said. “We turned around a pretty poor first-half performance; we were trailing 22-3 at the break. Credit to the players, they slowly but surely got themselves back into the game. I thought we were deserved winners at the end of the match.

“Subconsciously, I think for the players [the Wales game played a role], I know a lot of them had watched that on Friday night. We were pretty clear as a coaching team at half-time what we needed to do to get ourselves back in the game. That was just to make sure in our attack we could keep the ball for longer periods than what we did in the first half, but also the importance of getting the first score in the second half.

“Fortunately for us, we managed to do that, and we got ourselves back in the game. We took the lead and then defended for our lives in the last five minutes.

Richie Williams

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“I’m really happy, I don’t think many people would’ve expected us to come away with a win from Blackheath. Credit to the players and their willingness to dig deep, and show that grit and determination. Ultimately, that got us over the line.”

The result gave the Blood & Sand some breathing space between themselves and the relegation zone in National One, with Williams’ side now six points above the bottom three.

Cambridge lie tenth in National One with 47 points from 21 matches following their comeback against a side who missed the chance to go within five points of the top of the table.

Williams said their second-half display was right up there with the best his side have played this campaign.

“I think it’s pretty big in the grand scheme of things. I hope that will put us in good stead for the last nine games of the season,” the head coach added. “It’s probably given the players a bit more self-belief that if we do what we’re capable of, and we look after possession in attack and are aggressive in defence, and our discipline is good, we’re more than capable of beating any team in National One.

“I watched the game back on Sunday, and our attacking game was really controlled. Our scrum line functioned really well, and not to concede a point in a half of rugby against a team like Blackheath is another real positive in terms of our defence.

“I think that 40 minutes in isolation is one of, if not the best, 40 minutes that we’ve produced this season.”